Ramzi Kassem: Freeing Khalil and defending civil liberties

In 2024, Columbia University became the center of a U.S. pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across college campuses and led to more than 2,000 arrests. The legal battles surrounding student protests, particularly the case of Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, have been making headlines. Ramzi Kassem is a professor at CUNY School of Law, the co-director of the CLEAR clinic and one of Khalil’s lawyers. Kassem joined NY1’s Errol Louis to discuss Khalil’s legal standing, the broader implications for civil liberties and the role of the CLEAR clinic in defending protest rights against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and post-9/11 policies. He also touched on New York Rep. Elise Stefanik calling on the chancellor of CUNY to resign for “failing Jewish students” and her referencing his position as part of Khalil’s legal defense.